


Reliant

by Northern_Lady



Category: Divergent (Movies), Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: A little fluffy, Alternate Universe - Canon, Ambiguous Relationships, Dystopia, Execution, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sexual Content, Survival, Violence, Wilderness Survival, ambiguous events
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 17:39:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5506826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northern_Lady/pseuds/Northern_Lady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In this AU, someone speaks up to stop Eric's execution. One shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reliant

The gun Tobias held was pointed at Eric’s head. It would all be over soon. Life. Everything. The seconds while Eric waited to die seemed like an eternity. He wasn’t afraid. Not really. At least he wasn’t afraid of the pain or of an afterlife. Eric found he was simply disappointed. His entire existence had been so pointless. So fleeting. Just pull the trigger and be done with it Four! 

“Four wait!” A girl spoke up.

Four turned his head to see who had spoken but he didn’t move the gun. Eric turned to see her too. She was dark haired with fair skin and bright blue eyes. Factionless by the look of her clothes, and though she wore an armor vest, she was unarmed. 

“Don’t kill him!” She said, a mixture of a plea and a command. 

“What!” Four couldn’t believe what he was hearing, couldn’t comprehend that anyone would speak for Eric. “Who are you?” 

Evelyn Eaton stepped forward. “She is Lylla Kane. She has been factionless for three years. I would listen to her Tobias. In my experience she is a very wise young woman.” 

“He is guilty. Nothing she can say will change that.” Four said, angry at this interruption. 

“I don’t doubt that he is guilty.” Lylla said, her tone sad and serious. “But he saved my life once. I can’t just let him die. I owe him that much.” 

“I don’t believe this.” Tris protested. “One act of kindness doesn’t absolve him of what he’s done.” 

“I agree.” Four said, raising the gun just a little. 

“Please!” Lylla said again. “If you kill him I can never repay his kindness. It will haunt me for the rest of my life…” She said sadly, 

Eric looked at her again. He couldn’t remember ever having seen her before. It was hard to believe that he could have seen her and not remember it. She had such striking eyes. She was pretty in a sorrowful sort of way, like the way an icy winter day or moonlit night was beautiful. 

“What, are we supposed to let him go?” Tris asked with disbelief. 

“No. Just let me give him a gift before you carry out his sentence.” Lylla said and before anyone could think to protest, Lylla went to Eric and knelt in front of him where he was already knelt on the floor.

Up closer, Eric saw the her eyes were more blue than anyone’s he had ever seen. She smelled like vanilla and as she leaned closer to kiss him he found that she tasted like strawberries. He heard Tris make a sound of disgust from somewhere nearby. And for a moment, as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled her body closer to his, Eric found that he wasn’t as ready to die as he had thought he was just seconds ago. What was bothering most, was not that he could never get to know this lovely young woman, but that he wouldn’t get to know why she was doing this. The Erudite part of him longed for answers. His mind was analyzing even as some part of him enjoyed the kiss. He couldn’t remember ever having seen her but she claimed he had saved her life. Why? 

As if she read his mind, Lylla took one arm from around his neck and discreetly took his hand from off her hip and pushed it to rest on the pocket of her cargo pants. It was then that he understood, gun, she was giving him a gun. Except he was already surrounded and a single gun wouldn’t do him an ounce of good. She broke off the kiss gently and met his eyes, whispering a single word as a response to his questioning gaze. “Hostage.” 

Eric moved quickly, taking the weapon from her pocket and flipping her around so that she faced away from him in one swift motion. One of his arms held the gun to her head and the other wrapped around her waist to hold her in place, however he found that she wasn’t making any effort to get away from him anyway. The room had gone deathly still. Tris and Four were wearing looks of shock on their faces and Eric resisted the urge to laugh at them. The gun was too light. It wasn’t loaded and unless his new friend kept that secret to herself, neither of them would be getting out of here alive. 

“Put the gun down Four or she dies!” Eric said. 

Four only hesitated for a moment, then lowered the gun. 

“Don’t follow me.” Eric said, pulling Lylla with him towards the exit. The small crowd parted and allowed him to pass through. 

Eric saw Tris kick over a nearby trash can and yell in frustration. Four just watched them leave with disappointment in his eyes. As soon as Eric and Lyalla were out of the building, he let go of her, dropping the useless gun to the ground. He had to keep moving. Four and the others wouldn’t wait for long to come after him. To his great shock. Lylla didn’t run in the opposite direction when he let go of her. Instead she followed after him. He didn’t have time to stop and ask why or to bother with sending her away. Not until they reached the train. 

“I have to leave the walls.” Eric told her as they watched the train approach, getting ready to jump on. “You don’t need to come with me.” 

“You mean, you don’t want me to come with you?” She asked boldly. 

“Look, I was ready to die. Now I have to live outside the walls, alone, probably for the rest of my life because there’s no place else I can go. I didn’t ask for that. Just go back to the rest of them while you still can.” He told her, slightly angry, though some part of him was still curious about her, about who she was and why she was doing this. 

She put her hand on his arm. “Take me with you.” It was partly a request and partly a directive. 

Eric glanced at the approaching train. They had only about two minutes before it would reach them. He didn’t have long to make this decision. “Why?” 

“I saved your life. You owe me that much.” She said. 

“I thought this made us even, at least according to the story you just told back there it does.” 

She shook her head. “No, that was a lie. And the reasons I told it are very complicated. Just let me come with you. I won’t be in the way. I can even be helpful.” 

He doubted she could be helpful but then again he knew very little about her. “Which faction were you born to?” 

“Amity.” She told him. 

Nope. Not helpful at all. If she were dauntless she could aid in hunting and survival. If she were Erudite she could even be helpful. He didn’t need a peace loving flowery girl slowing him down. 

“I know which plants to eat in the wild. I grew up outside the walls, remember? I can help.” She told him, seeing the skepticism on his face. 

“Ride with me to the wall. We’ll figure it out.” Eric told her. He still wanted to know why she was helping him. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be alone outside the city, anyway, even if that meant he had to be stuck with a helpless girl. He had to admit that she was pretty and that kiss had been a good one. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. 

They boarded the train without too much trouble. Eric didn’t miss the fear in Lylla’s eyes as she made the jump but she did it without complaint in spite of her fear. They found a place to sit in a corner and resumed their conversation. 

“Okay, now if you want to come with me, the least you can do is tell me what all that was about?” Eric demanded. 

She glared at him. “Four would have killed you if I hadn’t spoken up. I don’t have to tell you anything.” 

“Fine. I don’t have to bring you with me.” Eric shrugged. 

Lylla looked deflated. “I don’t really know how to explain it.” She finally said. 

“Try.” Eric said. 

“It was a combination of things. As I said I was born to Amity. I dislike the idea of anyone being executed. I abhor it. The only reason I even work with Evelyn and her factionless army today was to help any wounded if they need me….I have wanted to leave the factionless, leave the city for a very long time. I saw what Four meant to do with you and it seemed like my best chance.” She explained. 

“Where did you get the gun? Why would you even carry one if you don’t believe in killing?” Eric asked her. 

“Because I’m not opposed to threatening if I have to. I carry an unloaded gun for emergencies. It came in handy today.” 

“I see. Typical Amity.” Eric almost sneered. 

“No, actually I’m not. I’m factionless, remember?” She said, irritated with him. 

“Yeah, how does that happen with an Amity? Did you transfer?” He asked, his Erudite curiosity in play in again. 

“I didn’t transfer.” She said sadly. 

“What did you do?” Eric asked. It was hard to believe that Amity would throw out anyone for any reason, especially not one born to their ways. 

Lylla sighed and thought a moment before answering. “My parents died when I was six. There was an accident at one of the silos that killed them both. Anyway, I was raised by my Uncle. He wasn’t… he didn’t… I wasn’t happy with him because of what he did to me. For a long time I didn’t fight back. I didn’t think I was supposed to….I thought I would just transfer out of my faction and be rid of him when I got old enough, Except I realized I’m not brave or honest or self sacrificing or smart enough to ever leave. So I stayed. And then one night he came to my bed I realized I couldn’t take it anymore....there was this vase at my bedside table...and when it was over he was bloody and bruised and unconscious and the vase was broken and I ran out of the house… he didn’t die...anyway, they said that they couldn’t tolerate that sort of violence in our faction and I was sent away. Uncle Grant convinced them that I had attacked him unprovoked, he was very influential and I’d always been more quick tempered than I should have been. So they made me leave…” 

“At least you bruised him up pretty good before you left.” Eric said. 

She shook her head. “It didn’t help in the end, not really. The Factionless have their own issues with violence and I don’t know how to fight. I wasn’t any safer with Evelyn Eaton than I was with Uncle Grant.” 

“And you think you’ll be safer with me?” Eric said with disbelief. “I’m not your knight in shining armor. I’m not even a nice guy. That’s the whole reason they wanted to kill me back there.” 

“I don’t even care anymore.” Lylla said almost listlessly. “At least I’ll be out of the city and back among the woods and trees and plants. I hate the tall buildings and mud and streets.” 

“You’re insane.” Eric told her. 

She didn’t argue with that. They rode in silence for a long while after that. They reached the gate and Eric’s codes still worked. He opened the door. 

“Are you sure you still want to come with me?” He asked Lylla. “This is your last chance to go back.” 

For a moment she looked hesitant, maybe even afraid. He thought she might change her mind and stay in the city. He realized then that he doesn’t relish the idea of being alone out there. Once he got past the Amity settlement there might be no one to even talk to. He could be alone without anyone to talk to ever again for months or years. It was either bring Lylla or be alone. 

“Look, I’m not going to hurt you if that’s what you’re worried about.” Eric told her, trying to ease her fears so she would come with him willingly.

“You’re not a candor. How can I know you really mean that?” She said, her voice betraying her fear. 

This was new to him. Eric had known plenty of people to be afraid of him before but in the past he had always wanted them to be afraid. Their fear had worked to his advantage. He’d never been in a position where he needed to convince someone not to be afraid of him. 

“I was born an Erudite.” He told her. “I can be brave enough, and Dauntless enough to face whatever is out there, but no one to talk to might just drive me crazy after a while. It would be stupid of me to hurt my only companion, the only person left in the world who doesn’t want me dead. I’m not one for making stupid choices.” Eric said and it was the truth. “I won’t hurt you.” 

Lylla nodded as if she almost believed him, then followed him out through the gates. 

It took a few hours to go around the Amity dwellings. Lylla picked leaves off of plants as they walked and a few times she stopped to pull up roots. By the time they had gone all the way around it was growing dark and getting colder.  
“I hear a stream.” Eric said, “We should get there and have water and then get some sleep.” 

“I have food.” Lylla said, holding out the plants she had gathered in her kevlar vest. 

Eric stopped to look at what she had gathered. “All this is edible?” 

She nodded. 

He was honestly impressed. Having her come with him was clearly the right choice. “Come on. We’re almost there.” Eric said and she followed him the rest of the way to the stream in the distance. 

They reached the stream and Lylla placed her vest filled with foods on the ground. Then she set to work gathering wood. Eric saw that she meant to build a fire and set out to help her gather wood. She soon built a fire and washed the roots in the stream to cook. The pair of them ate in silence. Then they each made a bed of grass on either side of the fire and lay down to sleep. 

Eric woke sometime later in the night to the sound of Lylla having a nightmare. She was crying in her sleep, struggling with an unseen enemy and apparently not winning the fight. He put another few sticks on the fire. He thought about ignoring her and going back to sleep. But as he watched her frightened dreams it occurred to him that if he did more for her than just let her travel with him, if he actually kept her safe and worked to make her feel safe, she would probably be loyal to him for as long as he asked it of her. 

Eric went around to Lylla’s side of the fire, knelt down and gently shook her awake. She gasped then grabbed his hand where it still rested on her shoulder and squeezed tightly. “Thank you.” She breathed as she caught her breath. 

“Should I expect these nightmares of yours every night?” He asked her. 

“Probably.” She admitted. 

“You’re okay now?” He asked, unsure how this comforting role was supposed to work. She nodded. Eric moved away from her to go back to his side of the fire. 

“Eric?” She called after him. “Maybe you could...stay over here?” 

He hadn’t expected that. Still, he went back to her anyway and lay down next to her. She reached out and placed and icy hand on his bare arm. “You’re cold.” He commented. He reached for the jacket he had taken off earlier that evening and placed it over her as a blanket. He didn’t even know what made him do that. 

When they awoke in the morning the fire had gone out. They ate some raw vegetables and continued their journey, unsure where they were even going. In the end they followed the stream for most of the day. As they walked, Lylla gathered more plants for them to eat. 

“What’s that one?” Eric asked her late that morning. “How do you know which ones are edible?” 

Lylla opened her mouth to tell him and then closed it again with a shake of her head. “If I tell you, then you won’t need me anymore.” She finally said. 

Eric raised an eyebrow, shifting his stance as he did so. “And what do you expect I’ll do if I don’t find you useful anymore?” He was a little surprised that she was thinking on these terms. She was apparently more intelligent than he’d given her credit for. She’d already figured out that he would want her to be useful. 

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Hopefuly nothing worse than send me away, but that would be bad enough.” She said, fear in her eyes. 

Eric sighed. He couldn’t have her being afraid of him. She might run away if she were and then who would gather plants? Who would he even talk to? “Look, I thought you didn’t care if you were safe with me or not. Clearly, you do care. And clearly you don’t trust me.” He said.

Lylla swallowed. “Usually I can figure people out faster than this. I can figure out what they want and do whatever I have to do to stay safe. I guess I just haven’t figured you out yet.” 

“So you were counting on staying safe outside the wall by figuring me out?” Eric asked, a little irritated and entertained at the prospect.

“Something like that. I hoped that it might work out a little like it did for me and Jacob.” She said. Eric didn’t need to ask who Jacob was, Lylla went on with her explanation. “Jacob was among the factionless. He was this big tough guy but he had some issues. He heard voices, saw things that weren’t there, and sometimes was just too depressed to function. Most people stayed clear of him. He and I made a deal. He protected me from everyone else and in exchange I shared his bed. It worked out really well for four months until he was killed on the day of the Simulation.” 

Eric thought for a moment. Lylla was a very attractive girl. He’d never had a girl to himself before. There had been plenty of one night relationships but only a few girls ever came back a second time. He just wasn’t the girlfriend type. The idea of having one girl all to himself was appealing. “If you want to make a deal like that again, I can agree to that.” 

“You won’t hurt me or let anyone else hurt me, ever?” 

“I won’t, not as long as you give me certain privileges and you show me how to find food.” Eric told her.

“How do I know you’ll keep your end of the deal?” 

“Because if I don’t then you’ll probably run away. It would be stupid of me not to. I don’t do stupid.” He told her. 

“Okay then.” She nodded, then held out the blue flowered plant in her hand. “This is chicory. The whole plant is edible, leaves, flowers, stalk, and roots. The roots are the best part.” She told him. 

They continued following the stream that day. Lylla showed Eric which plants to eat and how to safely cook and eat them as they went. She explained that she only knew all of this because she used to escape to the woods as a kid to get away from her uncle. She had found this book on wilderness survival and at times would run away from home for days at a time just to get away from Uncle Grant. She had learned how to take care of herself in the woods back then and had never been hungry but it had been lonely to live like that. She didn’t have many friends to go back to when she went home again. She’d always been too odd to fit in with her faction, 

“What about you?” Lylla asked Eric. “Did you have a lot of friends in Dauntless, or in Erudite before?” 

Eric shrugged. “Who needs friends?” 

“Everyone needs…” Lylla began but stopped when a noise in the nearby forest stopped her words. It sounded like branches breaking. “Someone’s coming.” 

Eric nodded. agreeing with her assessment. It could just be an animal or it could be people looking for them. “Over there.” He pointed at a thick stand of fir trees that would make a good hiding place. She followed him under the branches of the large tree and he began to climb up. He reached down to give her a hand up and she took his hand and allowed him to pull her up. They climbed up twenty or thirty feet and Eric found a strong branch to settle on near the trunk of the tree. Lylla was perched a bit precariously on the outer part of the branch. Eric reached for her hand a second time and pulled her closer to the trunk where she would be safer. The only way to keep her from falling was to simply wrap his arms around her and keep her pressed against him. He felt her intake of breath as he pulled her close to him and it was difficult to tell if it came from fear or not. 

They watched through branches as something or someone approached where they had been standing. It didn’t take long to discover that it was people. They were talking as they walked. Eric thought he recognized the voices. Then he saw them and was sure of it. Four and Tris and several of their friends. 

“I really think they went this way.” Tris was saying. 

“I doubt they’re still together.” Four said. “We found the gun before we ever left the city. Lylla has probably gotten away from him by now.” 

“If she even wanted to get away from him.” Tris said. “You saw the way she kissed him. They have a history.” 

“Evelyn says they don’t.” Four told her. “She told me Lylla was raised in Amity and took Amity as her faction when she came of age. She lived with them until she became factionless. There’s no way she and Eric could have ever met before.” 

“Okay, so why would she want to help him? Is insanity what made her factionless?” Tris said. 

“Officially Lylla is factionless because she instigated violence and violence isn’t the Amity way. Unofficially, she tested Divergent. Amity and Erudite equally.” Four said, repeating what his mother had told him. 

“That still doesn’t explain why she would help Eric.” 

“The amity people don’t believe in violence. She probably just didn’t want us to execute him.” Four said. 

“Even if that’s true, why would she stay with him all this time?” 

“Like I said, I don’t think they’re still together.” Four said and they passed under the tree where Eric and Lylla were hidden and continued on. 

It was a long while before the forest grew silent again. They could still hear their search party talking a long way off. Then it finally grew quiet. In all that time, Eric sat with his back against the tree trunk and Lylla sat facing him, his arms around her and her head resting on his shoulder. Her breathing was calm and contented. Even when the people were long gone she made no move to pull away from him. He couldn’t say that he’d ever had a girl cuddle with him before and he found that he wasn’t in such a hurry to have it end. 

“Is all that true?” He finally asked Lylla, making no move to let her go just yet. “You tested Divergent?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Why didn’t you just leave then? You could have made it as an Erudite and gotten away from your Uncle.” 

“Because I was afraid. I was afraid I couldn’t be smart enough, afraid that the city wall would be too stifling, afraid that I couldn’t live without the forest and flowers and fresh air. It wasn’t my smartest decision, I know.” She told him. “I think my uncle expected I would leave, When I didn’t things only got worse…It’s like he took my staying as permission to do whatever he wanted.” 

Eric lifted her chin so that he could look at her eyes. “I won’t let anyone hurt you again.” He told her and it had nothing to do with the agreement they had made. The truth was, he had no other purpose out here beyond the city limits. He couldn’t be a Dauntless leader anymore. He’d never have that sort of respect again. He’d never have the power of making or breaking new recruits after this. But he could be Lylla’s hero and that was a sort of power in itself. She would admire him, be loyal to him, maybe even love him if he was kind to her and kept her safe. He had nothing to lose by trying. “We could go back to the Amity settlement and find your Uncle.” He offered. 

“And do what?” She asked, eyes wide. 

“Revenge of some sort. I could kill him for you.” Eric said. 

In spite of what Lylla claimed to believe about executing people, she didn’t exactly look horrified at his words, only hesitant. “I don’t know about that. We could use some supplies though and if we’re going to steal, I’d rather steal from him than anyone else.” 

“Theft it is.” He agreed with a nod. “Come on, I’ll help you down and we can head back that way.” 

“Not yet.” She said, and instead of starting back down the tree, she leaned up and kissed him, deeply. longingly. Either she was a really good actress of Lylla was actually attracted to him. He didn’t know which was the truth and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He had to admit that it felt good to have her close. He immediately wanted her back again when she pulled away but he let her go anyhow and they made their way down the tree. 

The hadn’t gone far when they came to a steep hill, slick with mud. Lylla slipped twice trying to go down it. The third time Eric caught her before she hit the ground. “Thank you.” She told him gratefully. He held on to her a little longer than was strictly necessary before letting her go. 

Before they reached the bottom it was Eric who fell in the mud. It might not have been so bad had it not been for the sharp rocks he landed on, cutting his leg as he fell. “Shit!” He said, mostly about the amount of blood rather than the pain. Lylla knelt next to him to help him and check on his wounds and Eric noted the concern in her eyes. She was actually worried about him. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had cared enough to worry about him. It was an odd feeling. Lylla tore some cloth from the lining of his jacket and bandaged his leg the best she could. They resumed walking but it wasn’t as easy as it had been before. What should have been a few hours walk became even further complicated when a cold icy rain began to fall. 

Eric and Lylla took shelter under the branches of a huge pine tree. It wasn’t completely dry underneath but was better than being out in the open. However, within an hour the water that had soaked into their clothes was frozen. 

“We have to keep moving.” Eric said. “We have to find better shelter than this.” 

Lylla nodded. “I know, but your leg…” She glanced down at the growing pool of blood on his thigh. 

“I’ll be fine.” He told her, unsure if that was really the truth. 

The pair of them walked for hours that day, trying to find shelter, but mostly trying to keep moving just to keep from freezing. All thoughts of making it back Amity were secondary only to getting warm. It was after dark, late into the night and still raining when Lylla collapsed to the ground and burst into tears. 

“I can’t do this!” She cried. “It’s so cold!” 

Eric was honestly a little surprised it had taken her this long to crack. She wasn’t a dauntless, she never claimed to be brave.and she had walked all day in the freezing rain without uttering a word of complaint. Of course he was in worse shape than she was but still…

“Yes, you can. Get up!” He told her rather harshly. 

She sobbed. “I think we’ve gone the wrong way. We should be back to Amity by now. We’re lost and we’re gonna die out here.” 

“Only if you stay there and wait to die. Now, get up!” Eric reached down and pulled her to her feet. She resisted his help and he pulled harder, pulling her into his arms he kissed her, just to snap her out of her emotional state. She stopped fighting him and allowed him to kiss her. Then she was wrapping her arms around him and kissing him back. He pulled away from her. “Don’t give up like that again! You got it?” 

She nodded, breathlessly. He held her hand after that as they walked. He didn’t want her to get away from him or stumble and fall. The cold and lack of sleep was making her weak. It was making him weak too, and he had his injury to contend with, but he was used to more exercise than she was. He was stronger than her. It was nearly dawn when they found an old highway overpass that would serve as a shelter. It was dry underneath and they even found some piles of dry leaves and broken sticks to make a fire. Once the fire was made, Eric stripped off his wet shirt and laid it out on the ground near the fire. 

“We need to get dry.” He reminded Lylla. 

“I know...I just…” She began. 

Eric removed the rest of his clothes and looked up to see that she hadn’t moved. Her arms were crossed across herself protectively. Eric shook his head and went to her, stood in front of her just a few inches away. He reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it off of her in one swift motion. She gasped, but allowed him to do it. Then he wrapped his arms around her and unhooked her bra, pulling it off her shoulders and letting it drop to the ground. She was shivering, her skin covered in goosebumps but when he slid his fingers beneath the waistband of her pants she closed the distance between them and kissed him again. 

It was warmer with her skin against his, even warmer once her wet clothes were off and they were on the ground near the fire, his body inside of hers. He couldn’t remember having ever wanted a woman quite as much as he wanted her. The pain is his leg was temporarily forgotten as they both sought pleasure. At least she seemed to be enjoying it but he couldn’t be sure if it was only an act just so he would keep his promise to protect her. He wanted to not care what her reasons were. She was willing to have him so it shouldn’t matter. Except that it did matter. It mattered whether or not she wanted him and it mattered to him whether or not she was safe. He didn’t know how that had even happened but it had. His body stilled on top of her, too distracted to continue. This had never happened to him before. It angered him that it was happening now. 

“Are you alright?” Lylla whispered, her hand resting on his neck. 

“I can’t do this...not if it isn’t real.” His eyes met hers and he found confusion there. He didn’t have the words to explain. Instead he pulled out of her and rolled off of her, keeping her between him and the fire where she would be warmest. 

“What do you mean, not real?” She asked him. 

He swallowed. “If you’re only doing this so I’ll protect you....” 

“Oh. No, that’s not the reason.” She said, her hand running her fingers through his hair. “I like you Eric.” 

“Why?” He asked, not quite believing her. People didn’t just like him. He had always known that and had always been okay with that, until now. 

“Because you are strong and I am weak. Because you’re brave and I’m afraid. You do what needs to be done and I hesitate to make a decision...I look at you and I see things that are missing in myself...like my other half…” She told him, her tone was honest. There were tears in her eyes. 

Eric didn’t know what to say so he didn’t say anything. He just reached for her and kissed her. Soon she was on top of him and they were finishing what they had started. They slept curled  
up together in an attempt to keep warm. Their clothes were not quite dry when they awoke so they made love a second time. 

They dressed and finally left their shelter to try and find their way back to Amity. Eric found that he was hungry. Plants and roots just weren’t enough food for his energy levels. He needed meat but he had no weapons. No way to hunt. He had lost a lot of blood from his injury the previous day and between that and the lack of protein, he was growing tired. The hunger was so distracting that he could hardly focus to listen to Lylla as she talked to him about plants. 

“Eric, are you okay?” She asked him late that morning. 

“Vegetables aren’t enough. I’m starving. I need meat!” He said, frustrated. Then he saw that Lylla looked hurt. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not your fault. I’m sure it would be a lot worse without the food you’ve found.” 

She nodded. “There might be fish in the stream.” She suggested. 

“Yeah, but it’s not as if I have a hook or a spear.” Eric pointed out. 

“No but we have this.” She reached up and touched his eyebrow piercing. He understood immediately what she intended. Soon they had bent the ring into a hook and had used a strand of fabric from their clothes to make a fishing line. Fishing was only something they had read about but both of them were intelligent enough to make sense of it. They ate fish for lunch that day. 

By evening Eric was hungry again and he felt warm, feverish. His leg was hurting and he suspected it was infected. 

“I think that’s it.” Lylla pointed to smoke in the distance. “Amity.” 

“It’s gonna take a couple of hours to walk there.” He said. 

“Is that a problem?” She asked him, concerned. 

“No.” He lied. 

Lylla sighed. She saw right through his lies. “Is it your leg?” 

“Let’s just take a break for a bit.” Eric said, lowering himself to sit on a nearby boulder. 

“Let me look at it.” She didn’t wait for his permission. Lylla knelt and checked his bandage. “Shit. There’s pus.” 

“So, there must be some plant or something to treat it with.” 

Lylla shook her head. “You need antibiotics.” She glanced towards the column of smoke in the distance. “I know where I can get some.” 

“No.” He caught her arm. “I can’t walk that far just yet and I’m not letting you go alone.” 

“It isn’t gonna get better on its own Eric. Wound infections are nothing to mess around with. If you don’t get medicine you could die. Let me go get the antibiotics for you. I’ll only be a couple of hours and you can rest while I’m gone. It might do you good.” 

Eric hesitated to let go of her. She might never come back if he let her go now. Even so, he’d rather have her come back willingly then force her to stay. “Okay.” He said, letting go of her arm. She didn’t move. Instead she leaned closer and kissed him. A kiss goodbye he supposed. 

“I’ll just be a few hours. Don’t go far.” She told him and then she disappeared into the trees. 

The next few hours of waiting were agony for Eric. It wasn’t really because of the pain it was because of the worrying. He hadn’t worried about anyone in a long time. He disliked the feeling. He didn’t remember falling asleep after dark but it was dawn when he next saw Lylla. She woke him and he grabbed her and pulled her close without even thinking about it. 

“I missed you too.” She giggled. “I got your medicine. And I got some other stuff too.” 

“It’s dawn,” He said slightly confused. “You left well before dark. What took so long?” 

Her eyes clouded. “I was held up a little that’s all. Look…” She pulled away from him to show him what she’d brought. Two backpacks loaded with supplies. Knives, matches, tarps, blankets, changes of clothes, and canned meat, among other things. She passed him a bottle of pills and he swallowed one of the tablets. 

They made a fire and ate a meal of canned meat, bread, and fresh apples. After they had eaten, Lylla joined Eric on his side of the fire and cuddled up close to him to sleep. She had been awake all night and he was still tired, probably due to the infection. Several hours later Eric woke and he saw it, a bruise on her collarbone that had definitely not been there before. 

He brushed his fingers across the bruise, waking her as he did so. “What is this?” He asked. 

She hesitated to tell him. 

“What happened?” He asked again. 

“I saw Uncle Grant.” Lylla said in almost a whisper. 

Eric was furious, so angry that for a moment he couldn’t speak. “Did he rape you?” He finally choked the words out. 

Lylla managed a small nod.  
Eric forced himself to his feet. He started gathering up the supplies Lylla had left out and putting them back in their bags. 

“What are you doing?” Lylla asked him worriedly. 

“Packing.” 

“Why?” 

“To go back to Amity.” He said. 

“Why?” She repeated. 

“I’m going to kill him.” He told her. 

“Eric… don’t...if you get caught…” 

“I won’t get caught.” He said firmly. “I told you I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you. I shouldn’t have let you go back there alone. The only thing to do now is get rid of him.” 

“You’re still injured. You shouldn’t be walking just yet.” She protested. 

“Why are you trying so hard to stop me?” He said, angry. “Do you really think a guy a like him deserves to live?” 

Lylla paled at the question. “I don’t think it’s up to any of us to decide who deserves to die.” She said gently. 

“You’re actually serious about all that Amity peace stuff.” He said with disbelief. 

Lylla sighed. “How many people have you hurt Eric, or killed?” 

“A few. What does that have to do with anything?” 

“Because of whatever it was that you did, Tris and Four decided that you deserved to die. I happen to believe that even the worst of us are capable of being redeemed. Maybe they can never be trusted again by the people they hurt, and maybe some of them will never change, but that doesn’t mean they are incapable of contributing something good to the world. If we kill them, we take away their only chance to find the good in themselves.” She told him. 

He stared at her. “So do you think your uncle is going to open a shelter for domestic violence if I let him live?” 

“No. He may never change. He needs to be watched closely or put in a prison to keep the people around him safe, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t write a book from his cell that helps someone somewhere through a dark time in their life…. don’t get me wrong, I hate him. I don’t want to ever see him again. But that hate isn’t going to push me to want him dead.” 

“Fine.” Eric relented just a little. “I won’t kill him. I’ll just go beat the shit out of him as a warning.” 

“I won’t try to stop you.” Lylla told him. 

“Good.” Eric resumed packing up their stuff and when he set off towards Amity, Lylla followed him. “You sure you wanna go back there?” He asked her. 

“I’m not worried. You’ll keep me safe.” She smiled. 

It disturbed him just a little that Lylla trusted him to protect her. No one had ever put that kind of faith in him before. He had never really cared about keeping his promises to anyone all that much before either but he found that he wanted to in this case. He wanted to keep her safe both for her own sake and because she trusted him to do it. 

They reached Amity about two hours later and Lylla pointed out her Uncle’s cabin in the distance. Eric turned to her and pushed aside the collar of her shirt so he could see the bruise. He ran his fingers across the bruise. “I’ll break his collarbone.” She nodded, her gaze never leaving his. She looked at him like he was a hero and though he wanted that from her not so long ago, he found that it scared him now. The idea of possibly failing her scared him anyway. “You should wait here.” He told her. 

“I want to come. I want to see this.” Lylla said worriedly and even guiltily. It was an impulse Eric could understand, the desire to see someone suffer. He had wanted that even of people who weren’t truly guilty. At least this time the suffering was deserved. 

They crossed the distance to her Uncle’s house. A little listening outside the door made it clear that the man was home. It was Lylla who opened the door. 

“Lylla? What are you doing back here?” Uncle Grant said, a little surprised. He was a tall lithe man in his late forties with graying hair that was once as black as Lylla’s. He had the same blue haunting eyes as she did. 

“I brought a friend with me.” She said, and stepped aside to let Eric through the door. 

Eric didn’t hesitate. He crossed the room and punched Grant in the face. Even after the man was down he kept hitting him, targeting the collarbone as he had planned. Eric didn’t stop until Grant was passed out cold on his kitchen floor. Then he turned to Lylla, out of breath, blood all over his hands. “He’s not dead.” 

She nodded and went to the kitchen sink, wet a cloth and went to Eric to help him wash his bruised hands. She had just finished his left hand when they heard voices coming. Tris and Four. 

“It makes sense that she would come back here after what happened I guess.” Tris was saying. “If she isn’t still with him anyway.” 

“She isn’t.” Four insisted. 

They were already on the front steps. Lylla grabbed Eric’s hand and pulled him towards the back door. Too late. The front door was already opening. 

“Stop right there!” Four’s gun was already on them before they could get to the back door. 

Lylla moved to stand in front of Eric. “I won’t let you kill him.” 

Four ignored her and glanced over at the bloody unconscious man on the floor. “What happened here?” 

“Eric was protecting me, that’s what happened.” Lylla said. 

“Somehow I doubt that.” Tris said. “Eric doesn’t care about anyone but himself.” 

“Move out of the way, Lylla. You shouldn’t be protecting him. He’s dangerous.” Four said. 

She shook her head. “You won’t hurt me. I’m not moving anyhow.” 

“Maybe he won’t.” Tris said, pulling out her gun. “But I will. A leg wound takes a while to recover from.” 

Eric put his hands on Lylla’s shoulders from behind her. “Move.” He said firmly. “I’m not gonna let that bitch hurt you to get to me.” 

Shock registered on Tris and Four’s faces while Lylla turned to face him but did not move out of the line of fire. “No! I can’t let you die...I can’t…” She started to cry and she threw her arms around him. He held her tight for a moment while she just sobbed in his arms. Neither Tris nor Four had ever seen anything like it from Eric ever before. 

Then Eric pulled her arms off of him and gently pushed her away. “I’m done now. There’s no way out of this one. I’m sorry.” He stepped in front of Lylla, leaving himself open for being shot. 

Tris lowered her gun in confusion. 

“Go ahead Four.” Eric said. “I only ask one thing. If that man over there ever touches Lylla again you save a bullet for him too.” 

Four nodded his agreement. “Lylla come out of there.” He said as she was standing behind Eric, too close to the line of fire. 

“Four please...you can’t kill him...I love him.” Lylla was clinging to Eric’s arm, making no move to leave him. 

Eric looked down at Lylla beside him. “I love you too.” He told her. And some part of him did. Besides this way he would at least go out a hero to someone. 

Four’s lips twitched and he reluctantly, angrily, lowered his gun. “Get out of here.” He said. “If I ever see you again, I will kill you.” 

Eric took Lylla’s hand and they fled out the back door of the cabin to begin their new lives.


End file.
